A bump in the road
by girlylittlecaroline
Summary: Many girls have had the opportunity to be a stop on way for Neal Caffrey, but Sara refuses to be anything but a destination.
1. Chapter 1

Usually Neal would complain about an obstruction of his New York view, there were very few sights that he preferred to the one outside of Peter's window and after having been away from it for over a month he had been looking forward to reminiscing. The obstruction this time however, was above it by leaps and bounds. The purple hues of an evening Manhattan melted away into hair the colour of toffee drops that he craved running his fingers through. An hourglass figure hugged by black fabric draped to make her curves look endless and he almost pictured fanning his hands over her hips and pulling her to him.

The silhouette, even in the dim out-of-office lights, was unmistakably Sara Ellis. The woman he had smiled at once as she'd said she would 'see him soon'. The one he'd spent nights thinking about while he was away, with an island paradise at his fingertips he would long to be in his apartment during a thunderstorm with her curled against him. They hadn't been dating for months before he'd left yet her absence only dawned on him once he thought it was too late. He was frozen on the spot trying to think of what to say to her, how to apologize for his departure this time, although he was sure she would forgive him. He smiled at the thought and finally closed the door behind him with a silent click.

The look on her face showed that she had expected to see him, it didn't particularly look as overjoyed as he had hoped, however.

"Neal. You're back." It was a statement, a cold statement that lacked any kind of emotion behind it and suddenly the conman was left two steps behind as he tried to figure out how to react. Reducing his 100watt grin he smiled.

"Sara. Did you miss me?" He asked, a cheeky smile played in his eyes and she smiled back at him, although it seemed sad.

"For a while. Where's Peter?"

Well that stung. He flinched slightly at her change of subject, any trace of a smile gone now, looking disheartened. "Sara, you know why I had to leave, I never wanted to leave y-"

"Don't. I don't want to hear another Caffrey Hallmark card, Neal. Don't make out like we were anything special." She shook her head, her arms were folded defensively and she did her best to stay away from his gaze.

"Nothing spe- Sara, stop it. I never chose this. It's you I've always wanted to be with." He was prepared for her to smile and walk over to him, maybe even for her to shake her head and look away. He hadn't been prepared for her to laugh, the sound was cold and bitter.

"That's not what Maya seemed to think." She didn't sound resentful, any anger in her voice seemed to be aimed at herself. He was about to cut in when she began talking again, walking towards him.

"I got tired of waiting for you, Caffrey. That's what happened here. When I heard you were back I thought maybe, just maybe there was another chance for us. Perhaps we could be that way again but I was wrong, wasn't I? You'd been on that island for less than a month before you had your sights set on another new lover. There's always another with you."

Again, he couldn't find any anger directed at him and he longed for her to change her tone, to yell at him and show some passion but instead her voice stayed quiet, a shell of its normal self, a voice that demanded attention.

"Kate, Alex, Sara, Maya. Let's face it, Neal. I was never a great romance. I was a bump in the road."

She stopped infront of him and smiled, the gesture was overshadowed by the glisten in her eye, tears that he knew she wouldn't spill infront of him. He wanted to tell her how wrong she was, how she'd been the only thing that he could tell was real for a while. That he'd enjoyed the routine he was settling into when he never thought he would. Work with Peter. Home to Sara. It was a pattern that he had been hoping to repeat for years to come but somehow it all seemed to be slipping from his grasp like sand between his fingers.

"I'm tired of waiting for people to decide that I'm good enough to stay for. Goodbye, Caffrey. Treat the next one better." She gave him a ghost of a smile as she kissed his cheek, walked out of the door and his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**I had a few requests to make this into a two-chapter gig and so I did! I think it's finished off quite tidily so there won't be another chapter, I hope you all enjoy! **

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There were dozens of things that Sara Ellis missed about New York; the way it was constantly moving, developing, never quiet. The heat which steamed out of vents in the late afternoon as you were headed home. The feeling of being limitless, having the Manhattan skyline as your limit, making possibilities seem endless. It was something that she'd feared she'd never get back, but she'd been wrong. Her eyes looked down over a different skyline by now, London was beautiful in quaint ways that New York had lost years ago. Skyscrapers stood as shining momentos of what the future held, but inbetween there were beautiful churches, ancient buildings and terrace houses teaming with life. She could see the future, reach out and touch it but that wasn't all there was. The past would be there.

Hearing a throat clear behind her snapped her out of her thoughts, but she didn't turn around to face the man behind her. She knew who it would be. London was her present, but New York would always be there. Five years ago she'd watched a handsome figure in an impeccable suit fade away through tear-dotted eyes as she left, moving up towards the skyline she had spent nights staring at, entangled in silk sheets and strong arms.

She had seconds away from turning back around and slipping into those arms, moments from staying grounded in the city that she had grown to love. She had persevered, however. Her heels clicked with a sense of finality as she stepped up onto the Sterling & Bosch jet, not looking back as she went or she feared she'd fall. Her father had said that there was nothing that couldn't be done with grim determination and drive and those had been the words playing in her mind as she walked away. Not the whispered nothings of 3am, not the looks that could never be described with mere words or the secrets shared with a glass of crimson wine in her hand.

Behind her, she heard footsteps, stopping short behind her and taking her hand as if through habit.

She kept looking forward, watching the sun drape a cloak of shadows over her city, burning; a candle flickering at dinner.

The hand in hers traced over the ring on one of the manicured nails on her left. Her breath almost caught in her throat at the realization of what the dainty golden ring meant, the band that circled her finger the way strong arms had done once upon a time.

"I like the ring, whoever chose it must have great taste." His words were smooth on the tongue, even softer to the ear.

"He does. I'm a very lucky woman." Which was true, she felt content with this arrangement. Things had worked out perfectly, better than perfectly, it was everything a young Sara Ellis had ever wanted. Dressed in her big sister's dresses, toddling around in heels that she was determined to master walking in one day. Whatever the costume, one detail would remain the same. The huge ring on her finger (the bigger the better, she had definitely grown up quick in that aspect) was a constant staple, one of the boxes on a ten year old's bucket list. She was finally about to tick that box, the cross it off as another achievement. She could only hope that Emily would've been satisfied with her choice of suitor.

The laugh that came from her statement was infectious, she couldn't help but smile as he responded.

"I'd say he's the lucky one there, Ellis. Speaking of, I assume you're hyphenating the last name." He looked over at her and she caught the inquisitive look in his steel blue eyes, she hadn't given it much thought. She felt as though she had reinvented herself so many times up until this point, but she was at a place where she was happy right now. She didn't plan on changing any further.

"My fiance will have to get used to writing with a double barreled surname, of course."

"I'm sure I'll get used to it. Caffrey-Ellis."

"Ellis-Caffrey sounds better."

Then he laughed again and this time she didn't hold back from joining him in it, turning to face him as he put as her fanned his hand out over the emerald material of her dress.

"Neal and Sara Ellis-Caffrey. It has a nice ring to it." She reinforced, focusing on her words as she fingers twisting in her golden locks, her back to the view she had been staring at for what felt like her entire life.

"The thief and the bounty hunter. Cute."

She had taken to the air to avoid being grounded on the road, to avoid being a brief stop sign on the highway, but as Neal looked at her, outlined by the same hues he had watched her in year ago, he couldn't help but smile at how wrong she'd been at the time.

Sara Ellis was never going to be a bump in the road, she was a destination. With that, he pressed his lips to hers in a silent promise, he was here to stay.

He wasn't going anywhere.


End file.
